Pipe bombs ignored for six hours
Jan 31, 2012 | 6:20 am
#1
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Pipe bombs ignored for six hours
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...=feeds-newsxml
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/us/new...are/?hpt=hp_t3
(CNN) -- A New York airport screener who removed two pipes from a traveler's bag and set them aside Monday morning prompted a security scare six hours later when the next shift saw the pipes and feared they might be pipe bombs, local and federal officials said.
The incident at New York's LaGuardia Airport began at 11:30 a.m. when a screener discovered unidentifiable items inside a passenger's carry-on bag. The officer screened the item for explosives, determined them not to be a threat and cleared the passenger through the checkpoint, a Transportation Security Administration official said...When the next shift arrived, one officer saw the items and mistakenly believed they were test objects, used to check screener proficiency...
...The bomb squad removed the devices at 5:30 p.m. -- six hours after they were taken from the passenger.
Were they actually pipe bombs? That isn't clear to me.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/us/new...are/?hpt=hp_t3
(CNN) -- A New York airport screener who removed two pipes from a traveler's bag and set them aside Monday morning prompted a security scare six hours later when the next shift saw the pipes and feared they might be pipe bombs, local and federal officials said.
The incident at New York's LaGuardia Airport began at 11:30 a.m. when a screener discovered unidentifiable items inside a passenger's carry-on bag. The officer screened the item for explosives, determined them not to be a threat and cleared the passenger through the checkpoint, a Transportation Security Administration official said...When the next shift arrived, one officer saw the items and mistakenly believed they were test objects, used to check screener proficiency...
...The bomb squad removed the devices at 5:30 p.m. -- six hours after they were taken from the passenger.
Were they actually pipe bombs? That isn't clear to me.
Last edited by mules; Jan 31, 2012 at 6:28 am
Jan 31, 2012 | 6:44 am
#2
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If the items were cleared, why were they n
t given back to the passenger?
t given back to the passenger?
Jan 31, 2012 | 6:54 am
#3
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Just because they weren't bombs, doesn't mean they could automatically be carried on. Probably fell under the "no blunt instruments (unless it's a laptop, empty glass or metal bottle, etc.)" restriction.
Jan 31, 2012 | 7:04 am
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Port authority spokesman Della Fave said the police force will "speak with their (TSA) supervisors to determine how or why this breakdown in communications took place so it won't happen again."
That's what happens when you have 60,000 screeners each doing their own thing with no leadership to set a course.
Jan 31, 2012 | 7:08 am
#6
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Jan 31, 2012 | 7:56 am
#9
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LGA pax "voluntarily surrendered" 2 items-next shift call Bomb Squard 6 hrs later
- OMG, OMG - it looked suspicious, it looked dangerous, it didn't feel right, and it's not edible, they couldn't figure it out, and it's a quiet Monday, let's called LEO and run a full scale exercise - LOL Calm down - it's code "98" - sat there for 6 hours without going off & was just 2 homeopathic medical devices, like the insulin pump but this time, they sure "stopped" it at the checkpoint and apparently told the pax to "voluntarily surrender it" or else to NOT fly.
Local media outlets are "buzzing" with it this morning - ... The TSA said the Port Authority bomb squad was called “out of an abundance of caution ... Spin it, again 
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/...-not-a-threat/
Last edited by Letitride3c; Jan 31, 2012 at 9:14 am
Jan 31, 2012 | 8:20 am
#10
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Jan 31, 2012 | 8:26 am
#11
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If these items were determined to be safe, why did the passenger have "voluntarily abandon" them? I suppose they could be used as weapons, but how much damage could someone do before being severely beaten by other passengers? There are plenty of other items that I can carry through security or buy airside that could be just as dangerous.
This wouldn't have happened if the items had been disposed of in the special explosive disposal container...oops I mean regular trash can next to the checkpoint where all the "dangerous" liquids are tossed.
This wouldn't have happened if the items had been disposed of in the special explosive disposal container...oops I mean regular trash can next to the checkpoint where all the "dangerous" liquids are tossed.
Jan 31, 2012 | 9:00 am
#12
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Lots of "oopises" but which oopsie does one start with?
This one?
This one?
This one?
This one?
This one?
This one?
Or maybe this one?
I'm sure everyone feels much safer now, right?
This one?
A New York airport screener who removed two pipes from a traveler's bag and set them aside
The officer screened the item for explosives, determined them not to be a threat and cleared the passenger through the checkpoint, a Transportation Security Administration official said.
But the officer prevented the metal item from going through because of its "material and appearance," a TSA official said.
When the next shift arrived, one officer saw the items and mistakenly believed they were test objects, used to check screener proficiency. When that officer later learned they were not test items, the officer alerted others, and the TSA contacted the Port Authority Police Department, responsible for protecting the airport.
No one could give a good account of what it was, so we did the safe thing and called (the) NYPD bomb squad," Port Authority Police Department spokesman Al Della Fave told CNN.
We have still not been told what it was or what it was composed of," Della Fave said.
Port authority spokesman Della Fave said the police force will "speak with their (TSA) supervisors to determine how or why this breakdown in communications took place so it won't happen again."
Jan 31, 2012 | 9:07 am
#13
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The screener who did not properly dispose of the items in the first place should be fired.
Why were the items 'set aside'? If they were determined to be a potential aviation hazard, the pax declined to exit the checkpoint to mail them home/check them as baggage, they should have immediately been put in a trash can - a trash can that TSA can't retrieve choice items from at shift's end.
Unless, of course, the screener wanted to keep them for some reason - personal use, Ebay, clown around with them with his/her co-workers - none of which are appropriate.
"See something, say something"? Not one screener questioned the presence of the items at the checkpoint for six hours?
Why were the items 'set aside'? If they were determined to be a potential aviation hazard, the pax declined to exit the checkpoint to mail them home/check them as baggage, they should have immediately been put in a trash can - a trash can that TSA can't retrieve choice items from at shift's end.
Unless, of course, the screener wanted to keep them for some reason - personal use, Ebay, clown around with them with his/her co-workers - none of which are appropriate.
"See something, say something"? Not one screener questioned the presence of the items at the checkpoint for six hours?
Jan 31, 2012 | 9:11 am
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The screener who did not properly dispose of the items in the first place should be fired.
Why were the items 'set aside'? If they were determined to be a potential aviation hazard, the pax declined to exit the checkpoint to mail them home/check them as baggage, they should have immediately been put in a trash can - a trash can that TSA can't retrieve choice items from at shift's end.
Unless, of course, the screener wanted to keep them for some reason - personal use, Ebay, clown around with them with his/her co-workers - none of which are appropriate.
"See something, say something"? Not one screener questioned the presence of the items at the checkpoint for six hours?
Why were the items 'set aside'? If they were determined to be a potential aviation hazard, the pax declined to exit the checkpoint to mail them home/check them as baggage, they should have immediately been put in a trash can - a trash can that TSA can't retrieve choice items from at shift's end.
Unless, of course, the screener wanted to keep them for some reason - personal use, Ebay, clown around with them with his/her co-workers - none of which are appropriate.
"See something, say something"? Not one screener questioned the presence of the items at the checkpoint for six hours?
Jan 31, 2012 | 9:33 am
#15
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Errrr ... "It was not until 3pm that the supervisor decided to notify a TSA bomb specialist, who took another two hours to arrive.
The Port Authority Police Department bomb squad were notified when the expert decided that the pipes could potentially be explosive devices, and the security area was closed down.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1l3NhJLTX "
So, they called their own specialist - must be a code 3 response from PHL or BDL as it took 2 hours, LOL.
Fired the screener, demote the supervisor and re-assign the TSA bomb "expert" ... the traveling public was NEVER endangered the whole time, thank GOD.
I feel safe again, do you?